iPhone app fails alleged drunk driver

Published 2:01 pm, Tuesday, May 29, 2012

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iPhone app fails alleged drunk driver

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NORWALK -- A Weston woman was in a state of disbelief after she was arrested for driving while intoxicated early Sunday morning, despite the fact that her iPhone breathalyzer app said her blood alcohol level was below the legal limit, police said.

Madeline Smith, 23, of 11 High Acre Road, Weston, was charged with operating while under the influence and driving the wrong way on a one way street. She was released after posting $100 bond. She will appear in court June 7.

Officer Tyrone Boyd stopped Smith's vehicle after catching her driving the wrong way on Haviland Place at 2:05 a.m., police said.

Smith was asked to perform a field sobriety test, and she was placed under arrest after failing the test, according to police.

Smith was allegedly in shock that she was being arrested, telling Boyd that she had tested her blood alcohol level on an iPhone app before driving her vehicle and she was under the legal limit of .08.

At police headquarters, Smith blew a .120 on a breathalyzer, police said.

Officer Tyrone Boyd later researched the iPhone app to which Smith was refering, and he discovered that the app is a novelty designed to thwart drunken drivers. Users can program the app to give a fake blood alcohol reading that is above the legal limit and trick people out of driving drunk, according to Sgt. Lisa Cotto.

Smith had not programmed the app and when she used it, her blood alcohol level was listed as 0.00, according to police.